InspiredBy real events occurring between November 1966 and December 1967 in the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Produced by Lake Shore Entertainment released by Screen Gems and directed by [[ArlingtonRoad Mark]] [[Series/ColdCase Pellington]].

The film starts with a reporter, John Klein (Creator/RichardGere), and his wife Mary ([[WillAndGrace Debra Messing]]) looking for a new house. They get into a car accident, during which Mary first witnesses the Mothman. She is later diagnosed with a brain tumor and dies soon after. Before she dies, she draws [[RoomFullOfCrazy some really creepy pictures of the Mothman]].

A couple years later, John gets lost on a road trip and ends up in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a normally sleepy backwoods town; however the townsfolk have become wary of strangers because of the recent supernatural events. The townsfolk have had a series of encounters with the Mothman, and soon a mysterious being named Indrid Cold calls John in the middle of the night. With the help of the sheriff, Connie (Creator/LauraLinney), John tries to solve the meaning of the Mothman's presence.

The movie is based on a book written by journalist, parapsychologist, and ufologist John A. Keel which was first published in 1975, studying the events that occurred in the town in 1969. Despite the [[CoversAlwaysLie title, the original cover art, and later, the art of the movie poster]], the book focused mostly on the UFO sightings in Point Pleasant at the time along with some mention of shifty [[TheMenInBlack men in black]] snooping around, with only a few chapters dedicated to the sightings of the Mothman entity. Some anecdotes in the book were just too crazy to believe. The documentary ''Eyes of the Mothman'' recounted the story in connection with various legends such as the Curse of Cornstalk.

----!!This film provides examples of:

* AgentMulder (Alexander Leek) and AgentScully (Connie)* ArcWords: "Wake up, number 37."* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "In the end it all came down to just one simple question. Which was more important - having proof, or being alive?"* AuthorAvatar: Alexander Leek (Keel spelled backward)* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Discussed and clearly in effect. The motives of the Mothman are unknown and unlikely to make sense to humans.--> '''John:''' I think we can assume that these entities are more advanced than us. Why don't they just come right out and tell us what's on their minds?--> '''Leek:''' You're more advanced than a cockroach. Have you ever tried explaining yourself to one of them? * CaptainErsatz: Gordon Smallwood is ''very'' loosely based on Woodrow Derenberger. His encounter with Indrid Cold is one of the things faithful to the Mothman mythos.* CassandraDidIt: Possibly the Mothman.* ColorMotif: The color red is used ''very'' sparingly, and always appears when the Mothman is present, physically or no (which is in keeping with the legend of its unnaturally red eyes.) His wife also has a red motif (striking red hair and lipstick), which ties her into the second half of the film.* CompositeCharacter: In the book (and, presumably, the original stories Keel was reporting), Indrid Cold and the Mothman were separate entities, but the movie lumps them together. This is probably for the best, since the book's Cold was a perpetually grinning man who rode around on a flying chimney.* DarkIsNotEvil: The Mothman ''seems'' to take a relatively benign interest in humanity, but then, it's hard to tell.* DarkReprise: Mary apologizes for "ruining" everything, and tells John she's "sorry". Those words are repeated later in John's head, with a different subtext.* DeadpanSnarker: Connie.* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler: Gordon Smallwood]]* DreamingOfThingsToCome:** Gordon has predictions from daymares, starting with predicting the death of 99 people on a flight.** Connie has a recurring dream.-->'''Connie:''' It was nighttime and I was in the middle of the ocean. I was trying to swim, but I was too cold. I kept looking-- I kept looking for something to hang on to. And there were presents floating all around me. They were wrapped up. They were tied with bows. I tried to grab on to them, but they kept popping away. And then I started to sink like a stone. There was nothing I could do. I was falling. But it felt good. I was letting go. I was letting myself go... and all I could see was black and all I could feel was the darkness above me and the lights coming from below. I knew I was dying. And then I heard this voice, like somebody whispering in my ear. "Wake up, number 37." And then I woke up. * EurekaMoment: [[spoiler: "Great tragedy on the river Ohio..."]]-->'''John:''' ... [[OhCrap my God...]]* EvilPhone. Not quite evil, but thoroughly creepy, since his voice patterns were "outside of human vocal range". And then there's the phone that rings [[spoiler: even after Klein yanks the cord out of the wall.]]* FireForgedFriends: John and Connie. John and the Smallwoods, too.* TheFilmOfTheBook: Very loosely.* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: The Silver Bridge collapses, 36 people die, John reconciles the death of his wife, and none of the mysterious occurences are ''ever'' explained.]]* GlowingEyesOfDoom / RedEyesTakeWarning: How the residents describe the Mothman.* HorrorStruck* IntrepidReporter* JustOneSecondOutOfSync: Watch carefully: in one scene, John Klein's reflection ''is out of sync'' with Klein himself.* KnightInSourArmor: Leek comes off as this.* TheLostLenore: Mary's presence hangs over the film like a shroud.* MacabreMothMotif* MakeOutPoint: One of the places the Mothman shows up.* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Was it the Mothman Mary saw, or a hallucination caused by a tumor?[[note]]Or was the tumor ''caused'' by the Mothman?[[/note]]* TheMenInBlack: Book only, and reported to have happened by townspeople and the newspaper editor.* MirrorScare: Described by Gordon: "I see something that I cannot describe... but it sure as hell isn't my reflection." Later, after a scene in which John stares into a medicine cabinet mirror, he turns away while closing it... and for a brief moment, ''something'' is shown reflected in it.* {{Motif}}: Repeatedly, the film emphasizes pairs of red lights so that they resemble eyes, indicating the ubiquitous hypothetical presence of the Mothman. As well, the wings of the Mothman (appearing like the letter 'y', usually lower-case) shows up several times.* NightmareFuelColoringBook: Mary's little drawings are full of Mothman pictures. The orderly mistakes them for pictures of angels.** MadnessMantra: '''ruin ruin ruin ruin ruin ruin ruin ruin ruin ruin ruin'''* TheNotLoveInterest: John and Connie have a special bond and share a lot of chemistry, but it seems to be of friendship, not romance. Even if Connie were the perfect future partner, John is still too raw from Mary's death, even two years later.* NothingIsScarier: Indrid Cold is never seen. The happenings in Point Pleasant are never explained. The camera is often positioned in a manner that implies the characters are being watched -- but we never see what's watching them. And it is ''creepy''.* OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious: The Mothman is a real cryptid alleged to be connected with a genuine historical bridge collapse.* PhoneCallFromTheDead: John receives a phone call from what appears to be his wife at one point.* POVCam: Maybe? The camera behaves like it, swooping, flying, sneaking up from behind, eavesdropping from above, but there's no evidence it's the Mothman.* PropheticFallacy. John initially believes that the "tragedy on the Ohio River" will involve the local chemical plant, but it actually occurs much later [[spoiler: when the Silver Bridge collapses]]. * RealAfterAll* RedHerring: [[spoiler: The disaster will be at the chemical plant. It won't be.]]* SanitySlippage: Gordon, even if what's happening to him is real.* SdrawkcabName: Leek is based on author Keel.* ShoutOut: Perhaps unintentional or intentional; Leek's story of knowing a [[ArlingtonRoad building was going to blow up]] and no one listened. * SpeakOfTheDevil: Of sorts, playing into the BlueAndOrangeMorality of the Mothman.-->'''Leek:''' What you really want is to know... why you?-->'''John:''' Yes.-->'''Leek:''' You ''noticed'' them, and they ''noticed'' that you noticed them. * SurrealHorror* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow:-->'''John:''' Didn't you ''need'' to know?-->'''Leek:''' ''({{beat}})'' We're not ''allowed'' to know.* TooHappyToLive-->'''John:''' Two weeks ago, we were house hunting. One day you're just driving along in your car, and the universe just points at you and says, "Ah, there you are: a happy couple. I've been looking for you. I've been looking for you."* TheUnreveal: You ''never'' get to see Indrid Cold.* TheUnsolvedMystery* UrbanLegend* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: [[spoiler:For one, the Silver Bridge disaster happened in the late '60s. Second, the Silver Bridge was a chain-link bridge, an unusual construction with no redundancy, that is, if one link fails, they all fail. So, unlike the movie's explanation that the cause of the collapse was never determined, in actuality it was discovered to be a micro-fracture that developed over time, exacerbated by heavy traffic, that caused a sequential bridge failure.]]* [[YouAreNumberSix You Are Number 37]]----